General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A Shout Out To DU's Prosense- [View all]Brewinblue
(392 posts)criminal or corporate civil defense attorney. When faced with a set of facts clearly unfavorable to his or her client, a good defense attorney will do everything possible to deflect the attention of the court away from the actual issues at hand. Instead, he or she will first set out to impugn the character of the victim and the veracity of opposing witnesses by any means that may raise questions as to the character, reputation, or courtroom appearance and behavior of the witnesses. This is often done through revelation of prior acquaintances or colleagues alleged to be unsavory characters, testimony of witnesses secured solely or primarily to give their unfavorable opinion of the witness, or any potentially damaging prior statements, conversations, or communications.
The defense may also try to overwhelm the court with tangentially or non relevant evidence, case citations, briefs, motions, and mountains of documents alleged to support the case of the defendant. The ultimate goal is to create such a distraction from any actual evidence of guilt, as to create even the slightest reasonable doubt in the mind of at least one juror.
For those skills and efforts I commend her.